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Hey everyone. I started up a new 55g tank about two weeks ago. I let the tank run by itself and settle for roughly one week. After that week, I went out and purchased 6 Cories and 7 Cardinals to try and get the tank's biosystem going. After two days, two of the Cardinals were dead, and then one each day after. The Cories are doing fine and baby Cories are actually getting bigger already, but the Cardinals are basically still hiding in the tank. I'm pretty sure that they still are not adjusted to the tank and therefore are not eating when I feed them, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions, so they don't all perish.

~ Kirk

Last edited by mlfdco4 at 29-Jun-2005 10:14

Cardinal tetras really aren't good fish to start a tank out with, because they often aren't tough enough to survive the cycle. Other, larger tetras are better choices.

If you want to help these guys survive, try adding a bacterial starter product (Cycle, Bio-Spira, Stability) to your tank. The bacteria in these products will get your tank going very quickly, and hopefully quick enough to save your fish.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

What are good starter fish for my new tank then? The Cories are doing real well so far. I know that Cories are a very hardy fish, but what else can I add to help get the tank biologically going?

~ Kirk

If you like them, you can go with a number of other species of tetras. Lemons, serpaes, black skirts, bleeding hearts, Buenos Aires, rosies, and red eyes are all pretty tough. Many barb species such as tigers, golds, rosies, and black rubies will work. Most danios are fine too.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Cardinals aren't supposed to cycle tanks & they are not very hardy. Big bodied Tetra's are better for that type of work.

Have the Corydoras breeded in your tank?.


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No the Cories are not breeding in my tank. I bought four of the six new Cories as very small babies. The other two were large to begin with. The babies are only about 1.5 months old, but they've been in my tank for about two weeks now and I've been feeding them shrimp pellets and they are growing already. I will have to take a trip the pet store this afternoon and see if I can find some fish to add to the tank to get it going. I eventually would like to make this tank a nice varied community tank; including a Blue Ram, Bolivian Ram, Tiger Barbs, RTBS, Electric yellows, Bala Sharks, and a few more fish maybe.

~ Kirk

Last edited by mlfdco4 at 29-Jun-2005 12:41

Rams & Corydoras are from South America, Berbs & Sharks are from Asia & only Elec.Yellow's are African. They come from the Lake Malawi.


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mlfdco4,

I would suggest that you don’t add additional fish at this time, maybe try to return the surviving Cards and place hardier fish in the tank.
Increasing your fish number would increase your ammonia production and you most likely do not have yet enough bacteria to convert it into nitrite and bacteria to convert this into nitrate.

As a side note, and I am no expert in this field:
If you want to create an African Community tank, then various fish on your list don’t seem to fit in.
Rams – South America
Tiger Barbs – Asia
Bala Sharks – Asia
(the others I didn’t check)

Ingo

PS: and Jason just posted milli-seconds ahead of me

Last edited by Little_Fish at 29-Jun-2005 12:25

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I didn't mean to type African, I just meant Community tank. I want to have a nice variation of fish in the tank. I think I'm going to get three or four Black Skirt Tetras this afternoon and donate the three remaining Cardinals.

~ Kirk

Just make sure that the fish are compatable with each other & that you don't overstock your tank.

Goodluck with the tank & post us some pictures when it will be ready.


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I ended up buying three Rosy Barbs and a Blue Ram. I wasn't going to buy the Blue Ram just yet, but the fish store finally got a few in-stock and they always go fast. BTW, the remaining Cardinal Tetras have been returned.

~ Kirk

I have to say that Blue Rams -- though they are stunningly beautiful -- are among the most godawfully difficult fish to maintain that I have ever encountered. Not for anyone without a LOT of experience, and even they have trouble.

One problem seems to be that they require temperatures distinctly warmer than most tropicals -- about 85 deg F (29 C) -- which really is the temperature of the grassland watercourses from which they come. If they don't get water this warm, they are extremely susceptible to bacterial infections -- and one article in "Aquarium Fish Magazine" in the 1990s suggested that most of the those that reach the stores, having been raised in overly cool water in the fish farms, are already harboring such infections. The article suggested starting them for their first few weeks on a diet of Medicated Tetra Flakes.

I've had considerably less trouble with Cardinals, which don't seem to me nearly as delicate as some of the books make out -- but they are definitely NOT fish to cycle your tank with. (Neither are Neons.) One fish that definitely does work well for that purpose are Black Skirt Tetras, which are tough as nails.

Anyway, good luck -- and don't despair. Fish-keeping is definitely a learning-curve kind of thing; but once you catch on, most freshwater fish are prety easy to keep and don't require continual babying.

Personally i'd wait a little longer before i add anymore fish. Get the product mentioned above called Bio-spira and use this to cycle your tank.

I agree with the above about Rams - quite difficult to keep and parameters need to be quite good and constant, any change and these guys suffer.

I hope you dont lose anymore fish, most of us have used fish to cycle a tank before we even knew what cycling was but do a bit of reading for future reference if you like.

Read up on Bio-spira - really good product compared to others!

just remember Bala sharks grow too big for a 55g, and electric yellows are from lake malawi and therefore require a higher PH. So only keep electric yellows in an all african cichlid tank. So don't add these to your tank.

Well, good luck with the setup, and I wish you the best of luck.